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REMINISCENCES 


OF 

TRAVEL; 


OR 


A NARATIYE  OF  A TRIP  TO  THE  OOPPER 
REGION  OF  tAKE  SUPERIOR,  A 
VISIT  TO  NIAGARA,  AND  A 
DAY  AT  SARATOGA, 


BY 


Utica,  N.  Y.: 

Steam  Press  of  Coram  Brothers. 

1879. 


COMPOSED  AND 
PRINTED 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


O’NEILL  LIBRARY 
BOSTON  COLLEGE 


/ 


. 


PREFACE. 


This  u Reminiscences  of  Travel,”  is  a 
little  work  I have  written  entirely 
from  memory,  and  is  my  first  attempt. 

In  the  Summer  of  / 877 , M , S — 

E — , and  myself  visited  Niagara ; and 
from  there  to  Detroit,  Grand  Rapids, 
Grand  Haven,  and  across  Lake  Mich- 
igan to  Milwaukee,  then  to  Oshkosh , 
Wisconsin.  From  Oshkosh  I visited 
the  iron  and  copper  regions  of  Lake 
Superior , On  our  return  ice  stopped 

at  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Buffalo. 


CONTENTS. 


Part  I. 

“A  Narative  of  a trip  to  the  Copper 
Region  of  Lake  Superior.” 

Chapter  1, Page  1 to  6. 

“ 2, “ 7 “ 18. 

“ 3, “ 19  “ 35. 

“ 4. “ 36  u 39. 

Part  II. 

“A  Visit  to  Niagara.” 

Page 40  to  44. 


Part  III. 

“A  Day  at  Saratoga.” 


CHAPTER' I. 


Oshkosh,  Wisco;ksi:nt,  July  25,  1877. 


four  o’clock  Wednesday 

ml  . J 

«« 'g  morning  I started  alone,  tak- 


5 ing  a loaf  of  cake  for  lunch- 
eon on  the  way,  a letter  of 
[•*  introduction  to  a friend  of 

1 my  grandfather’s  in  Marquette, 
| and  $27.00  for  fare  and  expenses: 
1 on  Avhat  I anticipated  would  be  a 
most  delightful  trip  to  the  Copper 
Region  of  Lake  Superior;  via  Chicago 
and  North-Western  Railway,  thence 
by  lake. 

Leaving  Oshkosh  and  crossing  a 
prairie  country  to  the  Fox  River,  of 
which  we  caught  glimpses  of  occasion- 


2 IRON  AND  LUMBER  COUNTRY. 


ally,  until  we  reached  Ft.  Howard; 
opposite  which  Green  Bay  is  located. 
From  Ft.  Howard  we  went  oyer  long 
stretches  of  ],ow  country  to  Menom- 
onee, this  place  is  a great  saw-mill 
town,  the  Menomonee  River,  as  far  as 
can  be  seen,  is  covered  with  logs;  and 
going  still  on  through  forrests,  then 
over  sandy  plains,  giving  to  the  trav- 
eler the  appearance  of  a desert,  dotted 
here  and  there  with  clumps  of  trees 
for  oases,  until  we  reach  Escanaba 
about  noon. 

Escanaba  is  the  great  Iron  shipping 
port  of  Lake  Michigan;  here,  also,  are 
located  a number  of  both  coal  and 
charcoal  blast  furnaces.  A ride  of  two 
hours  more  brings  us  to  Kegaunee 
where  we  change  cars  for  Marquette. 
Here  I took  the  wrong  train,  which 
was  to  my  advantage  as  it  took  me  off 
to  Ishpeming  (four  miles),  an  exten- 
sive Iron  mining  town,  waited  one 
hour  for  a return  train.  Meantime  I 


AT  MARQUETTE. 


3 


visited  the  iron  mines,  engine  houses, 
etc.,  then  started  again  for  Marquette 
— they  charged  me  nothing  for  my 
extra  ride. 

I arrived  in  Marquette  at  six  o’clock 
p.m.,  a city  of  6,000  inhabitants,  situa- 
ted on  a fine  bay  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  walked  through  the  city  to  the 
part  facing  the  lake,  in  search  of  Mr. 
Parker,  a fisherman,  to  whom  my  let- 
ter of  introduction  was  addressed : 
0 while  passing  a large  iron  ore  dock  I 
noticed  a row  of  fish  markets,  and 
glancing  along  the  signs  “J.  Parker,” 
happened  to  be  the  second.  Entering 
the  market  I inquired  for  Mr.  Parker; 
they  told  me  that  I'  would  find  John 
just  across  the  street,  making  a gill- 
net.  Here  I found  the  gentleman  and 
presented  my  letter;  he  read  it  over, 
and  said  he  was  very  glad  to  see  me 
and  questioned  me  as  to  the  health  of 
my  grandfather,  and  all  his  other  old 
acquaintances  of  Oshkosh,  and  the 


4 FOUKD  I HAD  MADE  A MISTAKE. 


“strikes”  through  the  country.  I 
then  inquired  where  I could  find 
lodging  for  the  night,  and  he  said: 
I could  not  stop  with  him  very  well, 
as  they  were  sleeping  three  in  a bed 
now  at  our  boarding  house;  but 
directed  me  to  a first-class  temperance 
Hotel — the  International  House. 

I then  inquired  the  distance  to 
the  nearest  Copper  Mines  that  wTere 
being  worked:  he  said  the  nearest 
were  on  Portage  Lake,  about  eighty- 
five  or  ninety  miles  west  of  here,  by 
steamboat — on  hearing  this  I found 
that  I had  made  a big  mistake.  In 
the  noise  and  hurry  at  a shingle  mill 
at  Oshkosh,  I understood  the  engineer 
to  say  the  distance  from  Marquette  to 
the  Copper  Mines  was  eight  miles , 
which  I intended  to  walk — instead  of 
eighty;  and  began  to  think  it  was 
time  to  figure  up  the  lowest  cost  of 
round  trip,  not  feeling  disposed  to 
return  without  seeing  the  mines. 


PUT  UP  AT  THE  IHTERHATIOAL.  5 


First,  I went  to  the  steamboat  office 
and  inquired  the  price  of  a ‘deck  pass- 
rge’  to  Hughton,  Portage  Lake. 

“The  lowest  price  is  three  dollars/’ 
the  clerk  said. 

Will  boat  sail  to-morrow  morning? 

“No,  but  the  Keweenaw  will  at  six 
o’clock  on  Friday  morning.” 

Then  I went  to  engage  my  nights 
lodging  at  the  International  House. 
Inquiring  the  cost  of  a cheap  lodg- 
ing, the  clerk  said  that  “Ten  shillings 
is  our  price  for  supper,  bed,  and 
breakfast.” 

That’s  too  much!  something  cheap- 
er, without  any  thing  to  eat  ? 

“Well,  I’ll  give  you  a room  to  your- 
self for  seventy-five  cents ! ” 

That  will  do,  and  scratching  my 
name  on  the  register,  I paid  the  cash 
and  leaving  my  package,  told  him  I 
would  be  back  in  an  hour  or  so. 

Peturning  to  my  friend  Mr.  Parker, 
I spent  quite  a pleasant  evening,  talk- 


% If 

6 A CURIOSITY  SHOP. 

~ ] 

ing  about  the  riots,  etc.,  and  he  took 
me  about  the  town;  we  went  into  a 
large  curiosity  shop,  where  I had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  a quantity  of  Indi- 
an’s Goods,  and  many  natural  things 
gathered  from  the  Lake  Superior 
region.  Among  which,  were  different 
ores,  and  bright  pieces  of  Native  Cop- 
per and  Silver,  in  different  shapes — 
some  in  clusters,  others  in  dripping 
cicles  (illustrating  as  clearly  as  can 
be,  the  fact  that  they  had,  at  some 
time,  been  fused  through  the  crevices 
or  veins  in  the  rock,)  manufactured 
into  brooches,  ear-rings,  pins,  and 
other  jewelry.  Also,  a large  variety 
of  fine  stones  from  the  “north  shore,” 
with  agates  of  different  colors,  from 
the  size  of  a pea  up  to  one  that  would 
weigh  fifty  pounds.  As  we  left  here 
I informed  Mr.  Parker  I had  engaged 
my  lodging,  and  that  the  Keweenaw 
would  not  sail  until  Friday  morning. 

“So  good  night!” 


CHAPTER  II. 


Marquette,  Michigan,  July  26. 


AKING  up  about  six  o’clock 


m cl  I had  been  lying  on  the 
X siats,  only  hidden  by  a sheet. 
J Then  went  down  stairs,  washed 
my  face  and  asked  for  my  package, 
(the  loaf  of  cake),  the  proprietor  wish- 
ed me  to  stop  to  breakfast:  I told  him 
I was  going  to  see  a friend. 

From  the  Hotel  I went  down  to  the 
iron  ore  docks,  where  I saw  them  un- 
load three  trains  into  a vessel,  the 


^Thursday  morning,  I felt 
» rather  sore  all  down  my 
right  side,  and  by  examining 
my  bed — to  satisfy  curiosity 


8 


A SAIL  OX  THE  LAKE. 


cars  are  built  the  same  as  coal  jim- 
mies, opening  in  the  bottom,  dropping 
the  ore  into  a pocket,'  weighed,  and 
then  slid  down  a trough  into  the 
vessel;  which  occupied  but  a few 
minutes.  I then  went  to  the  fish 
markets,  where  I found  Mr.  Parker 

m 

getting  ready  to  make  another  net  and 
one  of  his  men  dressing  a fine  lot  of 
lake  trout.  While  watching  him  lace 
nets  a friend  of  Mr.  Parker’s  came  up 
to  get  permission  to  use  one  of  his  row 
boats;  he  then  let  us  both  have  one  of 
his  sail  boats  and  a trowling-line  to 
try  our  luck  at  fishing. 

Taking  a pair  of  oars  and  getting 
into  a flat  bottom  boat,  we  pushed  out 
to  the  sail  boat,  which  was  tied  to  a 
bouy;  fixed  things  ready  fora  sail,  and 
rowed  out  to  the  breakers,  where  we 
set  the  main-sail — but  it  would  not 
work.  As  I knew  nothing  about 
sails,  and  my  companion  not  much 
more — he  having  been  out  in  the  boat 


MOST  CAPSIZED  1ST  A SQUALL.  9 


with  other  parties  but  twice  before. 
Trying  again,  my  partner  at  the  stern 
and  I with  the  oars,  we  droped  the 
centre-board,  hoisted  the  main  and  jib 
sails,  placed  the  ballast,  and  then  sped 
over  the  beautiful  waters  of  Superior 
with  a steady  lake  breeze;  in  the 
meantime  throwing  out  our  trolling 
line — inviting  any  thing  smaller  than 
a sturgeon  to  take  hold.  We  glided 
along  without  a bite,  leaving  the  hills 
in  the  distance  and  our  starting  point 
out  of  sight.  Now  and  then  the  wind 
blew  in  gusts  and  then  died  down, 
which  looked  as  if  we  were  to  be  left 
in  a calm;  being  about  eight  miles 
out,  we  hardly  felt  like  rowing  back 
under  the  blazing  hot  sun. 

Just  then  a little  “squall”  struck 
us : the  tiller  snapped  off  close  to  the 
post,  the  ballest  shifted,  and  we  came 
very  near  capsizing,  but  only  dipped 
a little  water.  Cutting  away  the  sail 
ropes,  we  drifted  about  until  we  could 


10  PUTTING  BACK  TO  SHOKE. 


whittle  down  the  broken  tiller  to  fit 
the  mortice:  my  small  pocket  knife 
being  rather  dull,  we  both  blisterd  our 
fingers  at  the.  job.  Rigged  up  once 
more,  we  struck  a bee  line  for  our 
dock. 

From  conversation  with  my  friend 
during  our  cruise,  I learned  he  was  a 
college  student  from  the  east,  being 
here  on  a summer  vacation  for  his 
health.  I also  noticed  that  he  was  very 
courteous,  even  when  on  the  point  of 
capsizing,  he  cooly  requested  me  to 
“ ‘please’  pull  on  the  left  oar  quick!” 

On  arriving  at  the  dock,  we  were 
met  by  Mr.  Parker,  ready  to  help  un- 
load our  catch,  but  stating  we  had  not 
been  lucky  enough  to  get  a bite;  he 
turned  it  otf  in  a joke  and  said  : 

“Fish  are  very  scarce  and  shy  just 
now;  about  three  weeks  ago  we  had  a 
heavy  storm  from  the  lake,  that  drove 
the  fish  into  deep  water.” 

. The  water  of  Lake  Superior  is  very 

& — 


TKOUT  FISHING. 


11 


clear;  one  can  see  bottom  at  the  depth 
of  thirty  or  forty  feet. 

Beginning  to  feel  rather  hungry 
and  thinking  where  I would  camp 
out  to-night,  I asked  Mr.  Parker  how 
brook  trout  fishing  was  in  that  part 
of  the  country:  telling  him  what  sport 
we  have  in  New  York  State,  at  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  in  a wilderness  called 
the  “North  Woods/5  He  said  he 
knew  of  a small  brook  where  I could 
find  a few,  but  it  is  quite  a distance 
from  here. 

I guess  I can  find  it  if  you  show  me 
in  which  direction  it  is  ? 

“Well,  you  follow  this  road  beside 
the  Lake,  down  to  the  second  furnace, 
crossing  the  Croig  River  just  beyond, 
and  follow  up  the  left  bank,  passing 
three  ravines  opening  to  the  river  to 
the  fourth  one,  where  you  will  find 
a little  brook  thickly  lined  with  wil- 
low and  alder  bushes.  The  trout  lay 
in  holes  and  on  the  riffs/5 


12  A CHARCOAL  BLAST  FURNACE. 

0,  I can  go  there,  find  it,  and  easily 
return  before  night. 

“All  right!”  he  said,  looking  in  his 
pocket  book  for  a couple  of  small 
hooks  to  lend  me,  but  all  were  too 
large. 

I then  went  to  the  nearest  toy  store 
and  bought  five  cents’  worth  of  fish- 
hooks; with  a piece  of  string  which 
was  around  my  loaf  of  cake  for  a line, 
a compass  and  a knife  in  my  pocket,  I 
set  out  on  my  trout  fishing  expedi- 
tion. 

Following  Mr.  P-’s  directions,  1 
walked  about  two  and  a half  miles 
down  the  road  to  the  second  blast  or 
charcoal  furnace,  which  was  in  opper- 
ation;  being  just  in  time  to  see  them 
blow  off  the  slag.  Here  I noticed 
that  the  Charcoal  has  altogether  a diff- 
erent effect  upon  the  limestone  (the 
limestone  being  used  to  sepperate  the 
dross  from  the  iron,)  to  what  Anthra- 
cite and  Bituminous  Coals  have.  The 


THE  RIOTS. 


13 


charcoal  transforms  the  stone,  sinder, 
and  dross,  into  a substance  resembling 
glass;  which,  as  it  flows  from  the  fur- 
nace, cools  in  all  the  different  colors 
of  the  rainbow;  while  anthracite  and 
bituminous  coals  change  the  limestone 
cinder,  and  dross,  into  a porous  sub- 
stance like  pumice-stone. 

Mentioning  at  the  furnace,  that  I 
was  a visitor,  and  from  New  York 
State,  the  workmen  were  very  anxious 
to  hear  about  the  ‘riots/  I stated 
that  the  Tuesday  before,  the  mob  of 
rioters  at  Pittsburg,  on  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railway  had  burned  and  des- 
troyed over  a million  dollars’  worth  of 
locomotives,  rolling  stock,  buildings, 
etc.  And  that  while  Wm.  H.  Vander- 
bilt was  bossing  things  on  his  road  at 
New  York,  mobs  of  rioters  were 
blocking  up  his  road  at  Buffalo,  (the 
other  end),  letting  nothing  pass  but 
mail  trains,  and  at  the  same  time  tear- 
ing up  the  track  and  running  locomo- 


14  RED  AND  BLACK  RASPBERRIES. 

tives  into  the  ditch.  Also,  at  Chicago 
all  classes  are  on  the  strike,  but  have 
not  made  much  trouble,  only  burning 
a few  factories.  The  Militia  has  been 
called  out  to  protect  life  and  property. 

Crossing  the  river  on  some  logs  and 
flood-wood,  as  it  was  quite  low,  then 
walking  up  along  its  bank,  I came  to 
a dry  sand  bar,  on  which  I caught  a 
handfull  of  grasshoppers  for  bait. 
Then  crossing  through  some  woods, 
instead  of  following  around  a bend,  I 
found  the  bushes  hanging  full  of  red 
and  black  raspberries,  which  I put  out 
of  sight  by  the  handfull  until  I had 
eaten  enough  to  make  most  any  two 
boys  sick.  I also  noticed  signs  of  an 
abundance  of  game;  crossing  fresh 
deer  tracks — some  of  the  hoof-prints 
were  much  larger  than  I had  before 
seen  in  the  “North  AVoods”  of  5 York 
State.  After  walking  about  two 
and  a half  miles  up  from  the 
charcoal  furnace,  I came  to  the  fourth 


HOW  I CAUGHT  MY  TROUT.  15 


ravine;  climbed  up  on  an  old  stump, 
as  the  grass  and  weeds  were  above  my 
head,  to  find  the  brook : and  to  my 
surprise,  found  I was  but  a rod  or  so 
from  it.  Creeping  up  quietly  to  the 
brink  of  the  brook,  I peeped  in  and 
saw  just  the  bright  spotted  little  finn- 
ed fellows  I was  after.  From  a willow 
bush  I cut  a pole,  put  on  my  string, 
baited  the  hook  with  a ’hopper  and 
threw  in  over  a tuft  of  grass:  it  had 
hardly  touched  the  water  before  I felt 
a sharp  jerk,  and  landed  a nice  half- 
pound  trout,  which  I filed  as  N o.  1 on 
my  stringer.  Then  wading  down  the 
brook  a little  way  to  some  riffs  I tried 
my  luck  again.  Here  I caught  four, 
with  as  many  throws  of  my  hook, 
from  under  a log;  then  two  more  just 
below.  At  this  rate  I thought  I was 
doing  pretty  well,  and  a little  better 
than  a man  I met  going  home  dis-. 
couraged,  with  one  little  dried  up 
trout  about  the  size  of  his  finger. 


16 


CAMPING  IN  THE  WOODS. 


Fishing  down  the  brook,  I caught 
about  three  pounds;  and  then  coming 
on  to  a large  burnt-over  space,  cover- 
ed with  charred  logs  and  stumps,  some 
of  which  were  still  smoking  in  places. 
Following  the  brook  to  the  river — 
looking  for  an  old  cabin  or  some  place 
to  camp,  at  the  same  time,  as  it  was 
getting  late, — I found  a length  of 
stove  pipe  and  took  it  along  to  roast 
my  supper  on.  Instead  of  wading  the 
river,  I followed  up  its  bank  to  a nar- 
row rocky  place,  crossed  over  on  a 
fallen  tree,  then  took  a course  with 
my  compass,  a few  rods  through  the 
woods,  and  struck  an  old  road  or  trail, 
walked  down  it  about  a mile  to  a 
stone  ledge  where  they  had  been 
quarrying  limestone.  Looking  around 
the  ledge,  I noticed  a path  leading 
into  the  bushes  to  one  side,  and  follow- 
ing it  in,  found  a little  bark  shanty, 
and  settled  my  camp  for  the  night  at 
once.  Lit  a fire,  to  keep  away  the 


A GRAtfD  SUPPER. 


17 


mosquitoes  and  to  cook  with;  cleaned 
my  fish  at  a spring  close  by;  flattened 
out  my  stove  pipe  for  a frying  pan; 
then  pinned  my  largest  trout  on  a 
piece  of  birch  bark  and  set  him  up  to 
cook — rare  done;  roasted  the  rest 
stuck  on  sticks  and  on  my  pan.  Sit-  j 
ting  here,  at  my  lonely  feast,  half 
smothered  with  smoke  to  keep  off  the  j 
mosquitoes:  eating  fish  alone,  (without 
salt  or  brea^l),  it  tasted  as  nice  as  any 
thing  I ever  ate. 

After  supper  (about  eight  o’clock) 

I began  to  feel  sleepy,  and  the  ground  j 
being  too  wet  to  sleep  on,  I carried  a 
couple  of  planks  from  the  ledge  to  my 
little  bark  shanty  for  a bed;  built  a 
smug  fire  of  moss  and  wet  leaves  to 
keep  away  the  mosquitoes.  A stone,  I 
thought,  would  make  rather  a hard 
pillow  to  dream  the  next  day’s  scens  ! 
on,  and  used  my  loaf  of  cake  instead: 

I laid  on  the  soft-side-of-a-plank  and 
went  to  sleep  under  a bright  starry 


18  KEEP  DRY. 


canopy. 

Awakening  after  midnight,  I felt 
very  damp  and  cold.  Springing  up  I 
found  it  was  raining  fast,  and  my 
clothes  pretty  well  soaked.  I repleni- 
shed my  fire  and  managed  to  keep 
under  cover  in  one  corner  of  my 
shanty;  while  warming  and  drying 
myself,  here,  I whittled  a comb  out  of 
a chip,  combed  my  hair,  and  felt  ready 
to  start  again.  # 


CHAPTER  III. 


Marquette,  Michigan,  July  27. 

^p||T  lialfpast  three  o’clock  day 

began  to  dawn,  and  I started 

down  the  road  beside  the 

wp  * river,  towards  Marquette, 
(si/  ^ . 

k (which  is  about  five  miles 

JL  distant),  through  a drizzling  rain, 
J[  with  half  my  cake  in  one  hand 
and  a cane  in  the  other.  Passing 
on  my  way,  a row  of  large  charcoal 
kilns  and  hundreds  of  cords  of  wood 
ready  to  be  made  into  charcoal;  and 
arrived  at  the  Furnace  just  in  time  to 
see  them  blow  off  about  six  tons  of 
Iron.  This  is  a most  beautiful  sight 


20‘ 


‘PIG  IKOX*  DEFINED. 


to  see  at  night  as  the  shower  of  sparks 
fly  from  the  nozzle  with  a stream  of 
white-hot  metal,  which  changes  its 
color  from  white  to  red  and  then  to 
dark  red,  as  it  flows  down  a ditch,  or 
the  "sow,”  to  a bed  of  moulds,  called 
“pigs.”  This,  you  will  notice,  is  how 
the  rough  bars  of  cast  iron  take  the 
name  of  “pig  iron.”  The  Iron  from 
Charcoal  Furnaces  is  principally  used 
in  the  manufacture  of  wire,  car 
wheels,  etc. 

Arrived  at  the  Soft-coal  Furnace, 
which  is  about  half  way  between  the 
charcoal  furnace  and  Marquette,  a 
little  too  late  to  see  them  blow  off. 
Here  they  use  two  ores,  in  proportion 
of  half-and-half:  one  of  a black  color, 
of  eighty-five  per  cent;  the  other  a 
dark  red  hematite  of  thirty  per  cent ; 
yielding  about  fifty-five  per  cent  of 
iron  to  a ton  of  ore. 

Reaching  the  steamboat  landing  at 
five-thirty  a.m.,  too  early  for  the  boat, 


FIRST  SIGHT  OF  THE  KEWEENAW.  21 


I went  to  the  fish  markets,  where  I 
saw  my  friend  Mr.  Parker,  greeting 
him  with  “Good  morning ! 99 

In  returning  the  same,  he  said: 

“You’r  ’round  pretty  early  this 
morning  ?" 

Yes,  and  too  early  for  the  steamer. 

He  looked  out  on  the  lake,  and 
said,  pointing  to  the  North-east  hori- 
zon: 

“There  comes  the  Keweenaw  from 
Saut  ae  St.  Marie;  she  will  lay  here 
about  an  hour,  and  start  out  at  seven 
o’clock.  What  kind  of  luck  did  you 
have  at  trout  fishing  yesterday  after- 
noon, did  you  find  the  brook  ?” 

Yes,  I found  the  brook,  caught  a 
nice  lot  of  trout,  roasted  and  eat  them 
for  supper  last  night,  and  slept  in  a 
bark  shanty  at  the  stone  quarry,  near 
where  the  fire  has  been  through. 

“A  short  time  ago  a tremendous 
fire  swept  through  the  woods  there, 
and  at  one  spell  we  thought  our  city 


22  ABOARD  THE  KEWEENAW. 


would  go;  the  smoke  was  so  dense  here 
we  could  hardly  see  across  the  street. 
Didn’t  the  bears  or  wolves  howl,  or 
wasn’t  you  afraid  to  camp  out  in  the 
woods  alone?” 

No,  I slept  good  and  was  not  troub- 
led at  all,  except  with  the  mosquitoes 
and  rain. 

Just  then  the  ‘Keweenaw’  steamed 
into  port,  and  a number  of  her  pass- 
engers came  ashore  to  take  breakfast 
at  the  Lake-shore  House. 

Mr.  Parker  informed  me  that  by 
going  aboard  and  securing  my  pas- 
sage, I would  have  breakfast  and 
dinner  included  with  same. 

Leaving,  I bade  my  friend  Mr.  Par- 
ker “good  bye!”  and  boarded  the 
Keweenaw.  At  the  office  I inquired 
the  price  of  passage  to  Hughton: 

The  clerk  said,  “Five  Dollars.” 

Is  that  first-class? 

“Yes.” 

What  is  the  cheapest  deck  passage? 


THE  GULLS. 


23 


“Three  Dollars,  without  meals.” 

I will  take  a deck  passage ! 

At  seven  o’clock  the  whistle  blew,  a 
signal  to  passengers  on  shore  to  come 
aboard. 

The  “keweehaw”  is  a large  steam- 
er of  eight  hundred  tons,  belonging  to 
the  Ward’s  Central  and  Pacific  Lake 
Co.  Her  passengers  were  mostly 
tourists  en  route  to  the  Apostle  Isl- 
ands, Ashland,  and  Deluth;  with  a 
party  of  fifty-seven  emigrants  for 
Hugh  ton;  and  a party  for  the  ‘Black 
Hills.’  The  emigrant  party  consisted 
of  French,  Russians,  Sweeds,  and 
Norweigens;  the  two  latter  nationali- 
ties were  a fine,  stout,  rosy-cheeked 
people. 

Steaming  along  at  the  rate  of  about 
twelve  miles  an  hour,  and  followed  by 
a small  flock  of  Gulls ; over  the  clear 
calm  waters  of  Superior,  on  a beauti- 
ful summer’s  day  and  a delightful 
invigorating  lake  air;  which  almost 


24 


MY  HAT  OVERBOARD. 


seemed  a watery  paradise  to  the 
tourists:  who  amused  themselves  by 
throwing  crusts  of  bread,  apple  cores, 
etc.,  overboard  to  the  gulls,  and  then 
watching  them  dart  down  after  it. 
Sometimes,  two  or  three  would  see 
the  same  piece;  in  this  case  they 
would  chuckle  a little  and  then  fly  off 
leaving  it,  which  looked  as  if  they  did 
not  wish  to  fight  over  it. 

While  sitting  on  deck  with  a party, 
watching  the  foaming,  white,  curved 
track  of  our  steamer,  stretching  out 
over  the  water,  calm  and  dazzling  as  a 
mirror  in  the  noon-day’s  sun,  until 
lost  on  the  horizon.  And  the  Islands 
as  we  passed  them,  some  just  a rock 
pointing  up  above  the  water;  and  the 
high  red  sandstone  clifts  along  the 
shore:  which  formed  a very  pleasing 
scene — a little  breeze  lifted  mv  hat 
overboard;  then  the  hurrah  was,  “Hat 
overboard!”  Left  bareheaded,  I went 
to  the  clerk’s  office  in  search  of  an- 


LEFT  BAREHEADED.  25 


other  hat,  but  without  success,  he 
haying  give  his  only  extra  hat  to  a 
gentleman  who  had  lost  his  own  early 
the  same  morning;  then  to  the  stew- 
ard’s office,  he  (the  steward,)  was  very 
sorry  he  had  not  an  extra  hat,  but 
congratulated  me  on  my  good  looks 
bareheaded,  before  a party  of  young 
ladies  standing  by.  After  walking 
around  an  hour  or  so,  the  porter  came 
to  me  with  a hat  he  had  got  from  one 
of  the  cabin  passengers,  which  he 
would  sell  for  seventy-five  cents — all 
it  was  worth.  I bought  it,  being  glad 
of  the  chance,  and  trying  it  on — it 
came  down  over  my  ears  and  eyes — 
but  I soon  remedied  that  by  placing  a 
roll  of  paper  under  the  lining. 

By  one  o’clock  p.  m.,  we  entered 
the  canal  connecting  Keweenaw  Bay 
with  Portage  and  Torch  Lakes.  This 
canal  is  cut  aross  a low,  marshy  neck 
of  land,  and  is  kept  open  by  steam 
dredging  scows;  one  of  which  was 


rj 

? 

f % 

26  AT  HUGHTON. 

being  worked  as  we  passed, digging  out 
tbe  channel.  Just  as  we  were  along- 
side, they  plunged  down  their  scoop 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  and  brought  up 
about  half  a ton  of  mud  and  gravel, 
which  they  dumped  in  a boat  with  a 
splash:  at  this  the  foreigners  gazed 
with  much  interest,  then  looked  at 
one  another,  as  if  it  was  a new  thing 
to  some  of  them.  Winding  through 
the  marshy  ponds,  following  lines  of 
buoys  that  mark  out  the  channel,  we 
enter  Portage  Lake  and  arrive  at 
Hughton,  by  halfpast  three  o’clock. 

The  latter  town  being  located  in  Lati- 
tude 47°  52'  North;  Longitude  11° 

40'  West  from  Washington. 

i ° 

On  landing  at  Hughton,  I first  in- 
quired when  the  next  steamer  would 
sail  for  L’Anse  or  Marquette;  and  was 
informed  that  the  “Ivanhoe,”  a mail 
steamer,  would  sail  at  six  o’clock  the 
next  morning  for  L’Anse,  and  none  to 
Marquette  for  two  or  three  days. 

itfL 

\ 

c 

D 

Cj 

l 

1 

PEWABIC  COPPER  MIKE.  27 

At  Hughton,  the  lake  narrows  and 
the  shores  become  more  abrupt.  Han- 
cock, on  the  opposite  shore  is  connec- 
ted by  a swing  bridge,  and  both  towns 
are  built  on  the  hill  side. 

The  “Pewabic  Copper  Mine”  in  the 
Hancock  hills  being  the  nearest  and 
in  oppcration,  I visited  it.  Crossing 
the  swing-bridge  connecting  the  two 
towns,  (for  which  a five  cent  toll  is 
charged),  and  before  me  decended 
from  the  top  of  the  hill  a double  track 
incline  railway;  to  my  right  is  the 
smeltering  works:  and  to  my  left,  the 
separating  mill.  Then  I assended  the 
incline  railway,  which  is  about  a hun- 
dred rods  in  length  and  some  three 
hundred  feet  high:  here  at  the  top  is 
a large  stamp  mill,  and  looking 
straight  ahead,  over  a level  plateau, 
was  able  to  trace  a line  of  engine 
houses  and  other  buildings  extending 
about  half  a mile  along  the  line  of 
shafts  from  which  the  mines  are 

% 

\ 

,3 

c 

O 

28  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  MINE. 


worked.  This  row  of  buildings  I will 
describe  in  rotation:  beginning  at  the 
Stamp  Mill  as  No.  1.  This  mill  is  at 
the  terminus  of  a second  double  track 
incline  railway,  over  which  a hundred 
tons  of  copper  ore  and  rock  is  brought 
from  the  different  shafts  along  the 
mine  every  twenty-four  hours,  and 
then  worked  through  different  size 
machines,  until  reduced  to  small 
pieces,  then  loaded  on  cars  and  run 
down  to  the  separating  mill.  After 
the  copper  has  been  separated  from 
the  rock,  it  is  taken  to  the  sitfeltering 
furnace. 

The  2d  building  contains  a large 
steam  Air  pump,  used  for  feeding  the 
mine  with  fresh  air;  also,  in  one  end 
of  .this  building  is  a machine  shop, 
where  I saw  a most  compact,  direct 
acting,  little  steam  drill,  worked  by 
three  cylinders  (or  tripple  cylinder 
motion)  was  being  fiinished;  and  was 
to  be  used  in  place  of  hand  drilling  in 


HEAVY  MACHINERY. 


29 


the  mine. 

In  the  3rd  building,  the  large  pump 
that  keeps  the  mine  dry  was  at  work; 
sucking  the  red  colored  water  up 
through  a pipe  a foot  in  diameter. 

At  the  4th  building  was  another 
air  pump,  and  adjoining  this  a fire  de- 
partment’s house. 

No.  5,  is  an  old  shaft;  and  a few 
steps  to  the  left  is  the  blacksmith  shop. 

Around  building  No.  6,  the  visitor 
is  led  to  think  that  he  is  in  a saw  mill 
yard,  from  the  logs  piled  up  about, 
but  soon  finds  that  they  are  used  for 
props  in  the  mine:  one  of  which  I saw 
them  lowering  as  I passed. 

No.  7 is  another  shaft  house,  at 
which  was  stationed  a stout,  raw-bon- 
ed ‘red  man’  whose  features  plainly 
shown  the  Indian  type,  working  the 
skip  up  and  down  the  shaft,  and  load- 
ing the  trucks. 

No.  8 is  a boiler  and  engine  house, 
and  is  connected  with  a shaft  house, 


q 

-p?  t«yf 

s 

l 

30  A TWO  THOUSAND  FOOT  CABLE. 

No.  9,  (the  main  shaft),  by  a wire 
cable  over  two  thousand  feet  long, 
which  is  worked  by  a hundred  horse 
power,  double  cylinder,  reversable  en- 
gine. This  cable  is  wound  on  a drum 
forty-five  feet  in  circumference,  and  is 
attached  to  the  skip  wrhich  is  worked 
to  any  depth  they  wish;  the  skip  at 
this  shaft  brings  up  nearly  a hundred 
loads  in  the  twenty-four  hours,  of 
about  a ton  each. 

Here  I introduced  myself  to  the 
Engineer,  as  being  a visitor  to  the 
Copper  Mines,  from  ’York  State;  and 
entered  into  a varied  conversation 
about  the  ‘strikes/  copper,  silver,  and 
iron  mines,  and  a dozen  other  things 
in  succession.  Showed  him  some 

specimens  of  iron  ore  I had  collected 
at  Escanaba,  Ishpeming,  and  Mar- 
quette; and  some  pieces  of  colored 
dross  from  the  Marquette  charcoal 
furnace.  The  latter  he  seemed  to 
take  the  most  notice  of,  and  I gave 

± * 

\ 

i 

3 

c 

D 

A SPECIMEN  OF  NATIVE  COPPER.  31 


him  a bright  streaked  piece.  I then 
helped  him  fill  np  his  furnaces  for  the 
evening,  using  for  firewood  what  New 
York  State  farmers  would  call  choice 
cedar  posts.  In  return  for  my  piece 
of  charcoal  cinder,  he  gave  me  two 
pieces  of  copper  bearing  rock — just 
what  I was  after — and  displayed  a 
third  piece  (this  was  the  finest  bright 
piece  of  ninety-five  per  cent  native 
copper  I ever  saw),  saying: 

“This  was  give  to  me  by  one  of  the 
miners,  and  was  taken  out  of  the 
“hundred-aud-ninetith  level, ” about 
two  thousand  feet  below  where  we  are 
now  standing.  What  will  you  give 
me  for  it  ?” 

Well,  I am  short  of  money,  having 
hardly  enough  to  carry  me  back  to 
Oshkosh,  but  will  give  you  a ‘quarter* 
for  it! 

“This  piece  is  worth,  as  a specimen, 
five  dollars  of  anybodie’s  money;  but 
as  I run  the  risk  of  having  it  taken 


c 

l 

* 

32  THE  MINERS. 

from  me  at  any  time,  and  would  rath- 
er have  the  money,  you  can  have  it, 
if  you  want  it,  for  fifty  cents.” 

I was  glad  to  get  it  for  that,  and 
promised  I would  not  show  it  to  any 
one  around  there,  as  it  was  against 
the  rules  for  visitors  to  carry  off  any 
copper  whatever. 

Now  a little  after  five  o’clock,  as  I 
stood  in  the  engine  house  door,  the 
day  gang  of  miners  were  coming  up 
from  their  work;  and  another  gang 
collecting  ready  to  take  their  place: 
with  their  dinner  pails,  extra  candles, 
and  a canteen  of  tea;  dressed  in  a 
thick  brown  waterproof  suit,  stained 
red  by  the  red  sandstone,  and  an  iron 
framed  felt  hat  surmounted  with  a 
short  thick  candle.  The  miners  are 
divided  into  three  gangs,  who  work 
eight  hours  each,  and  receive  from 
eight  to  ten  dollars  per  week. 

The  Engineer,  also  said  that  this  is 
the  most  prolific  Copper  and  Iron 

3 

c 

rte 

D 

THE  SMELTING  WORKS.  33 

region  in  the  world.  The  Calumet 
and  Hecla  Copper  Mines,  on  Torch 
Lake,  alone,  produces  annually  ten 
thousand  tons  of  pure  copper. 

Retracing  my  steps,  I went  back  to 
the  Separating  Mill  by  the  side  of  the 
lake,  where  I saw  the  process  of  sepa- 
ration; which  is  done  by  being  washed 
with  water  on  revolving  tables  and 
other  machines;  also,  barrels  of  washed 
coppor  of  different  sizes,  some  the 
shape  of  cobble  stones  and  other  re- 
sembling red  gravel  and  sand. 

Next,  I visited  the  smelting  works. 
Here  are  eight  large  puddling  furna- 
ces, each  holding  five  tons  of  copper. 
The  copper  ore  is  put  into  the  furna- 
ces at  noon,  and  melted  to  a white- 
heat  for  twenty-four  hours;  in  the 
meantime  it  is  puddled  and  the  dross 
is  run  off,  then  cast  into  ingots.  The 
dross,  after  the  first  melt,  is  melted 
twice  more  to  extract  all  of  the  metal. 
In  the  yard  was  a pile  of  mass-copper, 


G 


34  NIGHT  ON  A LUMBER  PILE. 


and  trying  to  break  off  a small  piece, 
I was  told  by  one  of  the  men  that  it 
was  against  the  rules  for  visitors  to 
take  specimens,  and  that  they  had  to 
account  for  evey  pound. 

He  also  said:  “Sometimes  they  take 
out  masses  weighing  ten  tons  each; 
but  working  heavy  mass-copper  does 
not  pay  as  well  as  small;  its  heavier  to 
handle,  and  is  so  tough  that  it  has  to 
be  chiseled  apart  by  hand.” 

After  dusk,  I ate  the  last  of  my 
cake  and  took  up  my  night’s  lodging 
on  a lumber  pile  on  the  dock  by  the 
separating  mill. 

About  midnight  it  began  to  rain, 
and  I fixed  the  boards  over  myself  to 
keep  dry.  At  twelve  o’clock  p.  m., 
the  mill  stoped  for  lunch  hour;  and 
a party  of  boys,  who  had  their  boat 
tied  to  the  lumber  pile,  found  me  and 
thought  they  would  have  some  fun  by 
pulling  the  boards  down  on  me;  then 
they  rowed  across  the  lake.  As  I was 


THE  NIGHT-WATCHMAN  AND  I..  35 

crawling  out  from  under  the  boards, 
the  watchman  turned  his  little  bull’s- 
eye  lantern  on  me,  and  asked  “what  I 
was  doing  there,  and  why  I was  not 
at  an  hotel  ?” 

I told  him  I had  had  the  misfortune 
to  loose  my  hat  on  the  lake  the  day 
before,  and  that  I paid  six  shillings 
for  the  one  I had  on,  which  left  me 
too  short  of  money  to  pay  for  both 
lodging  and  railroad  fare.  He  then 
took  me  into  the  engine  room  to  dry 
myself,  where  I staid  ’till  morning. 


q 

f 

i 

* 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Hancock,  Michigan,  July  28. 

o’clock  Saturday  morning 
I went  aboard  the  ivanhoe, 
^^5  a mail  steamer,  which  carri- 
* ed  me  back  over  Portage 
Lake,  through  the  canal  and 

Q >> 

over  Keweenaw  Bay  to  L’Anse; 
tl  a distance  of  thirty  miles  in  three 
J hours. 

At  L’Anse  we  take  the  cars  for 
Negaunee.  Starting  again  on  our 
journey,  we  enter  a rough  and  rugged 
forrest,  then  assending  a heavy  grade 
beside  a dashing,  winding  rivulet;  the 

±. 

\ 

3 

L 

v>>  rcJ 

D 

RODE  PAST  MY  STATION.  37 

echos  of  our  iron  horse’s  groaning 
grunts  resound  in  the  depths  of  the 
wood  like  thunder ! as  we  run  along, 
first  on  one  side  of  the  ravine,  then 
on  the  other,  through  deep,  narrow 
cuttings  and  level  pineries  past  lake 
Michigami.  Reaching  Negaunee  by 
noon — a distance  of  fifty-four  miles. 

At  Negaunee  station,  I was  fortun- 
ate in  having  the  chance  to  buy  a 
second-part  ticket  for  Ft.  Howard, 
worth  seven  dollars  and  five  cents,  for 
six  dollars;  then  boarded  the  train  for 
Oshkosh,  a distance  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  miles,  where  I would 
reach,  by  skedyel  time,  at  eleven 
o’clock  p.  m. 

I re  in  the  evening  I went  to  sleep 
on  th  train,  and  rode  past  my  sta- 
tion. At  a little  after  eleven  o’clock 
I felt  someone  tapping  me  on  the 
shoulder,  and  looking  up,  the  con- 
ductor asked  me  where  I wanted  to 
get  off  at  ? 


38  • BACK  AT  OSHKOSH. 

‘At  Oshkosh  !’ 

“We’re  about  a mile  past  Oshkosh!” 
he  said. 

Tull  the  bell-cord  and  stop  the 
train ! 9 

He  reached  up  to  the  cord,  and  sent 
his  signal  to  the  engineer.  In  a sec- 
ond afterwards  the  whistle  blew  ‘down 
brakes/  the  train  stopped  in  about  its 
length,  I got  off  and  walked  four 
miles  back  to  Oshkosh,  uuder  a clear 
moon-light  sky  by  twelve  o’clock, 
where  I found  a good  hearty  supper 
waiting  for  me. 


ITINERARY 

OF  ROUHD  TRIP. 

From  Oshkosh  to  Negaunee,  dis- 
tance 228  miles,  fare  $9.00;  from 
Negaunee  to  Marquette,  17  miles,  fare 
48cts.;  for  lodging,  etc.,  at  Marquette 


COST  OF  ROUND  TRIP.  39 

80  cents;  from  Marquette  to  Hugh- 
ton,  80  miles  by  steamer,  fare  $3.00; 
75  cents  for  a hat;  50  cents  for  a spec- 
imen of  copper;  from  Hancock  to 
L’Anse,  30  miles,  fare  $1.50;  from 
L’Anse  to  Negaunee,  54  miles,  fare 
$2.55;  from  Negaunee  to  Ft.  Howard, 
179  miles,  fare  $6.00;  from  Ft.  How- 
ard to  Oshkosh,  49  miles,  fare  $1.95. 
Making  a total  of  637  miles,  with 
$26.53,  ( and  47  cents  left  in  my 
pocket),  in  93  hours:  or  an  average  of 
4^  cents  a mile,  or  about  28^  cents  an 
hour  for  an  excursion  to  the  great 
Copper  regeon  of  Lake  Superior  (?) 


A VISIT  TO 


NIAGARA. 


pPPpHE  city  of  Niagara  is  a very 
SSJSJiLJlK  gay  summer  resort.  During 

the  summer  months  visitors 
and  tourists  come  here  from 
all  parts  of  the  world,  to  see 
*4*  the  great  falls. 

j On  arriving  here  the  traveler  is 
1 surrounded  by  porters  or  runners, 
to  direct  him  to  a hotel,  or  hackmen 
to  drive  him  to  the  several  places  of 
interest;  but,  leaving  them  all  to  their 
glory,  and  walking  through  the  busy 
streets,  he  soon  hears  a roaring  noise 
— from  a distance : nor  does  it  leave 
his  ears  until  he  leaves  the  vicinity. 


42  THE  AMERICAN  FALLS. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  places, 
and  the  one  our  party  visited  was  the 
“Goat  Island  Group.”  At  the  enter- 
ance  bridge  is  a toll  gate,  at  which  we 
paid  fifty  cents  each;  then  started  on 
our  wandering  trip.  We  first  crossed 
an  iron  bridge  to  a small  island,  on 
which  is  located  the  Niagara  Paper 
Mills  and  an  Indian’s  Curiosity-shop; 
then  crosssd  another  bridge,  and  we 
were  on  Goat  Island.  Taking  the 
first  right-hand  path  we  strolled  along 
to  the  stairway  and  bridge  connecting 
with  Luna  Island.  Here  we  obtained 
a most  magnificant  view  of  the 
“American  Falls,”  where  the  water 
dashes  down  over  a hundred  feet  from 
the  perpendicular  rock,  and  when  the 
sun  is  shining,  two  beautiful  rainbows 
are  to  be  seen  at  once.  We  hastened 
along  from  this  point  lest  the  spray 
should  wet  us. through  in  a few  min- 
utes. 

Leaving  Luna  Island,  we  walked 


q 

3 

§ 

\ 

^ 'W 

THE  HORSE-SHOE  FALLS.  43 

along  the  lower  edge  of  the  main 
island  towards  the  “Canadian”  or 
“Horse-shoe  Falls/’  passing  a number 
of  Indians  with  their  fine  displays  of 
bead  work,  fans,  birch  bark  canoes, 
bows  and  arrows,  canes,  etc.,  which 
they  try  to  sell  to  the  visitors.  It  is 
rather  difficult  to  pass  without  buying 
as  their  things  are  very  attractive  and 
quite  cheap,  considering  the  time  it 
must  take  to  make  them.  Descending 
a flight  of  stairs  and  crossing  a foot 
bridge,  we  came  on  the  verge  of  the 
horse-slioe  cliffs.  From  here,  only, 
one  can  realize  the  immense  space 
— right  and  left — below  the  falls,  and 
the  many  thousands  of  years  it  must 
have  taken  for  the  action  of  the  water 
to  have  worn  it  out.  From  here,  also, 
is  a fine  view  of  the  new  suspension 
bridge,  one-fourth  mile  below;  and 
the  international  suspension  bridge, 
one  mile  down  the  river,  can  partly 
be  seen. 

± i 

£ 

c 

o 

44 


THE  THREE  SISTERS. 


Leaving  the  “Horse-shoe,”  we  fol- 
lowed the  right  bank  of  Goat  Island 
up  to  the  “Three  Sisters”  or  Moss 
Islands,  which  are  three  picturesque 
little  islands,  connected  by  three  iron 
bridges  to  the  main  island.  Passing 
over  to  the  third  sister,  we  obtained  a 
fine  view  of  the  rapids  above  the  falls, 
where  the  rolling,  dashing  water 
comes  down  from  the  horison — as  it 
almost  seems — to  the  edge  of  the 
‘Horse-shoe/  which  is  but  a few  yards 
from  our  feet. 

These  Islands  are  thickly  covered 
with  forest  trees  and  shrubbery, 
among  which  I noticed  four  varieties 
of  cedar. 

From  the  ‘sisters  group,’  we  walked 
around  the  head  of  Goat  Island  back 
to  oar  starting  point;  well  pleased 
with  our  fifty-cent  panorama. 


A DAY  AT 

SARATOGA. 


a beautiful  August  day  of 

1878,  M , S—  E— , and 

myself  enjoyed  a most  de- 
lightful excursion  to  Sara- 
. toga  Springs,  N.  Y , about 
one  hundred  miles  distant.  * 
Leaving  Utica  at  6:30  a.m.,  we 
started  down  the  grand  old  Mo- 
hawk Valley;  passing  Uion,  Herkimer, 
Little  Falls,  St.  Johnsville,  Fonda, 
Amsterdam,  and  Schenectady.  At 
Schenectady  we  change  cars  for  Sara- 
toga, where  we  arrived  at  11  o’clock. 

Now  in  the  “Summer  City”  (for  in 
the  winter  months  it  is  almost  as  dull 


47  CONGRESS'  PARK. 


as  Long  Branch,  N.  J.,)  onr  attention 
is  first  turned  to  “Congress  Park,”  to 
which  the  entrance  fee  is  ten  cents. 
Congress  Spring  water  was  the  first 
for  us  to  taste.  M — , took  one  sip, 
which  lasted  all  day;  E — , tasted  it, 
and  said:  “I  don’t  want  that  stuff! 
that  isn’t  water  !”•  Then  I drank  half 
a glass— but  after  sloping  could  hard- 
ly drink  the  rest. 

Congress  Park  is  comparatively,  its 
size  considered,  more  diversified  than 
is  New  York  Central  Park,  or  Fair- 
mont Park  in  Philadelphia.  At  the 
main  enterance  is  the  spring  pavilion, 
just  opposite  stands  the  ‘Thorwaldsen 
Vase,’  (representing  night  and  morn- 
ing), to  the  right  and  left  extend 
covered  promenades:  the  right  leading 
to  the  Columbian  spring,  and  the  left 
to  the  Congress  spring  and  Cafe.  In 
the  centre  is  a reservoir  containing 
several  hundred  large  speckled  trout, 
which  attract  considerable  attention. 


A TROUT  POND.  48 


The  children  bring  pieces  of  bread, 
apple,  etc.,  to  feed  the  pretty  fish,  and 
watch  them  with  delight  as  they  swim 
around  and  rise  up  after  the  bits  they 
throw  in.  Also,  men  standing  around 
the  railing  seem  snxious  to  test  their 
agility,  which  they  do  by  holding 
their  canes  or  umbrellas  over  the 
water,  and  watch  them  jump  up.  A 
few  steps  on  is  a deer’s  pen,  in  which 
are  three  deer,  one  buck,  and  an  elab- 
orately built  rustic  cottage  barn  for 
them.  The  grounds  are  adorned  with 
flower  beds  here  and  there;  and  a 
lake,  in  the  centre  of  which  stands  a 
pretty  music  pavilion,  where  the  or- 
chestra warbles  their  sweet  melodious 
selections  on  fine  evenings,  whi  n the 
adjoining  lawns  are  illuminated  with 
electric  lights  for  promenade  concerts. 

We  next  visited  an  Indian  Encamp- 
- ment;  then  the  High  Eock,  Seltzer, 
Star,  and  other  springs — there  are 
thirty  all  told,  and  no  two  alike— and 


49  A WALK  TO  THE  GEYSEll. 


tasted  water  from  each  of  course.  We 
then  walked  down  Broadway  (the 
main  street),  passing  the  Grand 
Union,  United  States,  Congress,  and 
a score  of  other  hotels,  on  to  Wash- 
ington spring;  then  visited  another 
Indian  Encampment.  Here  were  a 
variety  of  attractions,  such  as:  punch- 
and-judy  shows;  plenty  of  hand-organ 
music;  target  shooting;  circular  wood- 
en horse  swings;  squaws  making  fan- 
cy baskets;  bowling  allies  for  children; 
and  a circular  railway  about  a quarter 
of  a mile  in  circumference,  with 
double  track  and  two  hand  cars.  A 
party  of  two  or  four  wTould  sit  on  the 
cars,  propel  themselves  by  turning  a 
crank,  and  race  around  the  circle — 
the  one  coming  in  last  would  have  to 
treat  the  party. 

From  the  Indian  Encampment  I 
walked,  alone,  down  to  the  “Geyser” 
(about  two  miles),  passing  on  my  way 
the  glass  works,  where  the  millions  of 


CHAMPION  SPOUTING  SPRING.  50 


I 


mineral  water  bottles  are  made.  Vis- 
iting first  the  Champion  Spouting 
Spring* — a fine  display  of  natural 
force.  This  Spring  has  been  tubed, 
and  the  pressure  of  Carbonic  Acid 
Gas  being  42  pounds  to  the  square 
inch;  the  water  spouts  continuously 
through  a quarter-inch  opening  to  the 
height  of  35  feet,  making  a constant 
flow  of  six  gallons  a minute.  By 
removing  the  small  tube,  a column 
of  foaming  and  sparkling  water  is 
thrown  into  the  air  to  the  height  of 
one  hundred  feet. 

J ust  across  the  railroad  track  is  the 
Spouting  Geyser,  this  and  the  Cham- 
pion are  the  only  two  spouting  springs 
in  the  lot.  and  are  supposed  to  be  at 
the  fountain  head  of  all  the  spring 
waters;  also,  in  this  group  are  the 
Little  Sulphur,  Vichy,  Kissengen,  and 
several  locked  up  springs. 

Walking  back  and  rejoining  my 
party  at  the  Indian  Camp,  we  thought 


* See  illustration. 


a 


51  A $60,000.  PAINTING. 

we  would  go  to  the  Grand  Union  to 
see  the  great  picture.  This,  as  I sup- 
pose most  everybody  knows  (?)  Mr. 
A.  T.  Stewart  had  painted  to  order  in 
Italy,  at  a cost  of  over  sixty  thousand 
dollars.  The  picture  is  sort  of  an 
allegory,  and  so  large,  the  frame  had 
to  be  taken  apart  and  the  canvas  roll- 
ed up  to  get  it  inside  the  building;  it 
was  finally  placed  upon  the  wall  of 
the  spacious  ball  room.  Entering  the 
Hotel,  we  asked  permission  of  the 
clerk  to  see  the  large  picture.  He 
politely  refused  us  on  account  of  the 
I ball  room  being  fitted  up  for  a “Hop” 
on  the  same  evening.  He  added  : “It 
is  usual  to  allow  visitors  to  see  it.” 
Crossing  Broadway  we  next  visited 
the  Harthorn  Spring;  then  walked 
around  the  Grand  Union,  which  cov- 
ers a whole  block,  with  the  exception 
of  a little  Stone  Church,  (the  hotel 
billiard  parlors  are  next  to  the  latter) 
and  is  the  largest,  most  complete,  and 


q 

fi 

STYLE  AT  SARATOGA.  52 

finest  hotel  in  the  country.  A few 
steps  from  the  Grand  Union  is  John 
Morresy’s  Club  House. 

Now  on  Broadway  at  about  five  p. 
m.,  there  is  no  lack  of  style  in  the  way 
of  turn-outs — from  a buggy  to  a buss. 
Fat,  lazy  horses  with  short  bushy  tails 
and  heavy  silver-plated  harness, draw- 
ing clumsy  red-wheeled  barouches; 
others  with  driver  and  footman  dress- 
ed in  livery,  drive  up  and  down  before 
the  hotels  ready  for  a customer.  Some 
take  an  evening  drive  to  the  “Geyser,” 
while  others  go  down  past  Jerome 
Park  to  Moon’s  at  Lake  Saratoga — 
four  miles  distant. 

Taking  the  8 p.  m.,  we  started  on 
our  way  home,  reaching  Schenectady 
after  waiting  for  two  or  three  late 
trains  at  midnight,  and  arriving- 
home  rather  sleepy  at  1:30  a.  m. 

* 

3 

c 

Li  <*•) 

b 

53 


HISTORY  OF  THE  'SPRINGS  * 


The  first  white  man  who  (so  far  as 
is  known)  visited  Saratoga  Springs 
was  Sir  William  Johnson,  Bart.  Sir 
William,  under  a commission  of 
major-general  from  George  II.,  defeat- 
ed the  French  army  under  Baron 
Dieskau  at  the  battle  of  Lake  George, 
on  the  8th  of  September,  1755.  In 
this  action  he  received  a wound  from 
which  he  never  recovered,  and  was 
frequently  subject  to  serious  illness. 
It  was  during  one  of  these  attacks 
that  the  Mohawks  revealed  to  their 
“beloved  brother,”  War-ra-ghi-ya-ghy 
(Johnson),  the  medicinal  properties 
of  the  “High  Rock  Spring.”  Nor, ' 
perhaps,  could  there  have  been  a 
stronger  proof  of  the  affection  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  Indians 
than  this  act  of  giving  to  him  the 
benefits  of  that  which  they  had  always 


* From  Harper’s  Monthly. 


sir  wm.  Johnson’s  visit.  54 


sacredly  guarded  as  a precious  gift 
to  themselves  from  the  Great  Spirit. 
Accompanied  by  •his  Indian  guides, 
the  baronet,  on  the  22d  of  August, 
1767,  being  too  feeble  to  walk,  was 
placed  on  a litter  and  bonre  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  faithful  Mohawks 
through  the  woods  to  the  spring. 
Here  he  remained  in  a rude  bark 
lodge  for  four  days,  by  which  time  he 
was  so  much  benefited  as  to  be  able  to 
return  to  Johnstown,  part  of  the  way 
on  foot. 

In  1770  a Dr.  Constable,  who  resi- 
ded at  Schenectady,  examined  the 
water  at  Saratoga  and  pronounced  it 
highly  medicinal. 

In  October,  1777,  Major-General 
Mooers,  of  Plattsburg,  who  was  stati- 
oned after  Burgoyne’s  surrender  in 
the  vicinity,  visited  the  spring. 

In  1783,  Dr.  Samuel  Tenney,  a regi- 
mental surgeon  in  camp  at  Fish  Creek 
also  paid  a visit  to  the  spring,  and 


55  GEO.  WASHINGTONS  VISIT. 

made  some  judicious  remarks  on  its 
uses  as  a medicine.  In  the  summer 
of  the  same  year  General  Schuyler 
cut  a road  through  the  forest  from 
Scliuylerville  to  the  High  Eock,  and 
erected  a tent,  under  which  his  family 
spent  several  weeks,  using  the  water. 
Also : 

In  1783,  General  Washington,  ac- 
companied by  his  aids,  Alexander 
Hamilton,  Geo.  Clinton,  and  Colonels 
Humphreys  and  Fish,  visited  the 
High  Eock  on  their  return  from  an 
inspection  of  the  northern  forts,  their 
attention  having  been  directed  to  it 
by  General  Schuyler  while  guests  at 
the  latter’s  house  at  Schuylerville.  On 
their  return  route  through  the  woods, 
when  near  the  present  village  of  Ball- 
ston,  they  lost  their  way.  Near  the 
bridal-path  lived  one  “Tom”  Conner, 
who  was  chopping  wood  at  his  cabin 
door.  They  inquired  the  way,  and 
Tom  gave  the  requisite  directions 


O 


“TOM”  AND  WASHINGTON.  56 


The  party  accordingly  retraced  their 
steps  a short  distance,  but,  becoming 
bewildered,  rode  back  for  more  ex- 
plicit directions.  Tom  had  by  this 
time  lost  his  temper,  and  peevishly 
cried  out  to  the  spokesman  of  the 
party,  who  happened  to  be  Washing- 
ton, “I  tell  you,  turn  back  and  take 
the  first  right-hand  path,  and  then 
stick  to  it:  any  darned  fool  would 
know  the  way.”  When  poor  Tom 
learned  whom  he  had  thus  addressed, 
he  was  greatly  chagrined.  His  neigh- 
bors for  a long  time  tormented  him 
on  his  “reception  of  General  Wash- 
ington.” 

The  next  year,  1784,  another  dis- 
tinguished person  visited  the  High 
Rock,  brought-  there  by  the  advice  of  * 
Washington,  viz.:  Colonel  Otho  H. 
Williams;  and  in  1790  the  mother  of 
the  late  Hon.  Theodore  Dwight  also 
visited  the  spring,  coming  from  Hart- 
ford on  horseback.  On  reaching  the 


57  RURAL  ACCOMMODATIONS. 


spring,  Mrs.  Dwight  found  but  three 
habitations,  and  those  but  poor  log- 
houses  on  the  high  bank  of  a meadow. 
The  log-cabins  were  full  of  visitors, 
and  she  found  it  almost  impossible  to 
obtain  accommodations  even  for  two 
nights. 

“These  waters/’  writes  Elkanah 
Watson,  in  visiting  the  High  Rock  in 
1790,  “are  situated  in  a marsh.  There 
is  no  convenience  for  bathing  except 
an  open  log-hut,  with  a large  trough, 
similar  to  those  in  use  for  feeding 
swine,  which  receives  the  water  from 
the  spring.  Into  this  you  roll  from 
off  a bench.” 

Among  the  visitors  to  the  High 
Rock  in  the  year  1791  were  a Con- 
gressman (John  Taylor  Gilman)  and 
an  aged  gentleman,  his  friend  and  fel- 
low-traveler. One  day,  as  the  former, 
accompanied  by  a young  son  of  the 
woodsman  with  whom  they  were  stop- 
ping, was  returning  from  a hunt 


“the  congress.”  58 


along  a foot-path  leading  to  the  cabin, 
the  aged  gentleman  meanwhile  sitting 
on  the  door-step  awaiting  their  com- 
ing, the  boy,  highly  elated,  ran  for- 
ward, exclaiming,  “Oh,  mother,  we’ve 
found  a new  spring!”  To  the  ques- 
tion, “Who  found  it?”  the  son  replied, 
“The  Congress.”  The  aged  gentleman 
then  said,  laughingly,  to  Mr.  Gilman, 
who  had  now  come  up,  “The  spring 
shall  always  be  called  the  ‘Congress.’” 
Thereupon  the  entire  household 
“turned  out”  and  went  down  to  see 
the  wonderful  discovery.  At  this 
period  it  was  necessary  to  climb  over 
logs  waist  high  to  gain  access  to  the 
new  spring,  the  water  issuing  from  a 
fissure  in  the  rock,  and  being  con- 
ducted to  the  glass  through  a wooden 
spout  fastened  into  the  crevice.  The 
village  now  rapidly  increased;  and 
new  springs  were  discovered. 

In  1802,  a large  frame  house  was 
built  by  Gideon  Putnam  on  the 


59  putnam’s  taveen. 

site  of  the  present  Grand  Union,  hav- 
ing for  its  sign  a quaint  representa- 
tion of  the  adventure  of  “Putnam  and 
the  Wolf,”  (still  in  existance),  and 
thenceforth  the  “Springs”  became  the 
resort  of  those  who  were  in  persuit  of 
health  and  pleasure. 


DATE  DUE 


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